Inconsistent Celtics go cold again in loss to 10-win Raptors

Porzingis said there were times the Celtics seemed to just go through the motions as the Raptors streaked to the basket for layups with simple off-ball cuts. He said the Celtics played “bad basketball.”

The only time Porzingis smiled was to tell the group of reporters that even though he was panicking, he wasn’t going to tell them. After the light-hearted admission, he insisted that he wasn’t actually panicking, and he trusted that everyone would believe him.

“But we’re definitely in a bad moment right now,” Porzingis said. “We have to be realistic and look in the mirror. We don’t play the best basketball. We’re not executing … There’s a lot of things we’re not doing well and we have to be honest with ourselves or we’ll just keep going like this.”

Yes, the Celtics are 28-12 and in second place in the Eastern Conference, but that mark doesn’t really tell the story of the team they currently are. They are just 7-7 in their last 14 games, and if CJ McCollum’s evocative layup for the Pelicans had played on Tuesday, Boston would be staring at a three-game losing streak that includes losses to two of the worst teams in the league.

Jayson Tatum said it’s clear the Celtics need to find a way to play with “more intensity, more life.”

“We’re going through some (expletive) right now,” Tatum said. “It’s tough. But we said it after the game: We’ve got to go through it together as best we can, stick together, trust each other like we always have and just show your true character.”

Late in the third quarter, Tatum dribbled along the perimeter before Toronto star Scottie Barnes pushed him back toward halfcourt and loudly slapped Tatum in the face to make it clear he was determined to stop the Celtics’ All-Star.

These Raptors fans have become more focused on lottery odds than winnings, and some even seemed frustrated that tonight didn’t help on that front. But at this moment, everyone roared and enjoyed the burst of energy that used to be common in this building.

The scene seemed to excite Tatum, who responded by using a screen to roar down the court and attempt a monstrous one-handed dunk. Then the ball was deflected off the rim. Tatum claimed he had been molested, but the frustrating sequence summed up Boston’s night.

Tatum had just 16 points and Jaylen Brown added 10, with the All-Star duo combining to make just 9 of 31 shots. The Celtics shot 39.1 percent from the field.

“We all have (the missed shots) on our face a little too much,” Tatum said, “and we’ve got to get out of it.”

RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 22 points. Toronto scored 60 points in the paint and shot 50.6 percent from the field overall.

But there is a huge talent gap between these teams, and the Celtics have shown that it doesn’t take much to erase deficits. So when they started the fourth quarter trailing just 88-82, a run felt inevitable.

Instead, Boston crumbled. In the final period, the Celtics shot 6 of 20 from the field, surrendered seven offensive rebounds and scored just 15 points.

There were several stretches during the game where the Celtics seemed to lack effort, especially when the Raptors either squandered second chances or sliced ​​into empty space with a simple cut.

However, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla disagreed that the proposal’s efforts had waned. He said it was simply a matter of attention to detail and pointed out that this style of play is Toronto’s strength. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t pretty.

Now, the Celtics will begin a challenging stretch that includes six of seven games against teams with winning records. The only exception is an away game against the Warriors (19-20), who still figure to be dangerous for obvious reasons.

“We know we’ll get past this,” Porzingis said. “We know that. I know that. But we have to start. We have to start playing better. We just can’t keep cruising and just expect to turn it up toward the end. So it’s in our hands.”

Adam Himmelsbach can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.